Community of Commerce Supports Business with Fresh Philosophy

When a group of Oakland business owners began exploring ways to revive the borough’s defunct chamber of commerce last year, they settled not just on a new organization, but on a new way of doing—and helping others do—business.

Small business owners as well as Mayor Linda Schwager, who also runs a law practice in the borough, had pointed to the need for a chamber last year, citing a lack of support for the business community since the borough’s chamber fell to the wayside years ago.

“I’m a business owner, and I know how important it is to have a business association,” Schwager said. “It brings business to town and it helps people stay.”

Peter Kikot, the owner of New Jersey Landscaping Consulting Services and at the time a candidate for the council, heard the calls during his campaign, and after his failed bid took up the work of gathering fellow business owners around a new organization.

“A lot of the conversations I had with people, being a business owner myself in town, was about ineffective and basically complacent the old chamber of commerce was,” he said.

He and a group of borough business owners formed the Community of Commerce in January and February of this year, inviting members of the old chamber as well as residents from around the borough to forge a new organization that Kikot says represents more than a change of name, but a change in philosophy.

Like traditional chambers of commerce, the membership is held predominantly by the business community, but private residents are also welcome to join, making the organization more “inclusive” than pure merchant associations, Kikot said.

“We want to make sure that we’re seen as a community group, that everyone in some way is involved in supporting the others,” he said.

Rather than aiming simply to support the borough’s businesses, the group embodies the philosophy that building relationships with arts, recreation, and other community groups will in the long-run do more to turn Oakland into a destination town and in turn attract small business customers.

“You want to support the businesses, but we want to make it easier for them to support recreation and the arts as well,” Kikot said.

The group has already worked with the borough’s recreation program, and took part in last month’s carnival. Kikot said they plan to “piggyback on” more events, as well as hold restaurant week in the fall to showcase local eateries.

Though a current council candidate, he said that the organization holds no political goals, but his greatest hope for the future is in attracting more involvement from government, to create better dialogue between the borough council and local business owners on the issues affecting downtown.

“I really feel there’s a disconnect between the council and business community at large,” he said.

But even when business is the focus, Kikot said, what distinguishes the Oakland organization is the opportunities for input from regular residents, who can join for just $10 annually (it’s $30 for businesses).

“As chairman, my job is to listen as best I can, and the only way I can listen is to hear people speak,” Kikot said. “I’d love to hear from more people, then as a group we’d have more input and better decisions.”